What You Need to Know About The Kahului Airport

Kahului Airport is a regional airport located in the beautiful state of Hawaii, east of Kahului CDP in Maui County near Haleakala. Most flights come from Honolulu International Airport or the U.S. mainland. The Honolulu-Kahului route remains one of the busiest routes in America, ranking an impressive 13th in the year 2004 with close to 2 million passengers.

The Kahului Airport is part of the grand scheme of operating airports and seaports from a central structure in Hawaii. The main authority of the airport is the Governor of Hawaii. The Governor in turn appoints the Director of Hawaii State as well as the Department of Transportation who both have influence over the Hawaii Airports Administrator.

The Hawaiian Airport Administrator resides over 6 governing agencies, including: The Airports Operations Office, Airports Planning Office, Information Technology Office, Staff Services, Engineering Department and the Visitors Special Information Office. These 6 agencies exercise authority not only in Kahului. But also in the 4 other airport districts namely: Kaua’i District, O’ahu District, Mau’i District and of course the Hawai’i District. The Kahului Airport is under the jurisdiction of Mau’i District authorities.

The Kahului Airport terminal structure has a ticketing section, USDA agricultural area and a placement for baggage inspection. There are over 18 jet zones available for passengers to use. The arrival and departure areas have emergency exits that lead into the tarmac in case of a fire or unforeseen trouble.

The gates of the Kahului Airport were initially spaced to mind small aircraft like the Boeing 717 and Boeing 737 used within Hawaii. But things have changed with Kahului getting flights from the U.S. mainland and using bigger body aircraft like the Boeing 777, Boeing 767. Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737-900 and the Boeing 757. The smaller aircraft fit into the gate easily. The overseas aircraft cannot do the same, basically because of their size.

The airport has been going through expansion phases to accommodate these challenges. A long term goal, endorsed by the Hawaii State Legislature is also to elevate the airport to a status where it would entertain routes from Canada and even Asia. And because of this, the Kahului airport is building bigger facilities, elongating the runways, augmenting fuel storage capacities and constructing new access roads.

This has met stiff opposition from local residents who do not want the serenity of the island to be chaotic and problematic with the invasion of too many people. There are many social awareness campaigns citing concerns that a big city airport will only cause the city bigger problems.